Bobbin



LNDSAY L Peb, 23; 1932 1 Illllllll Patented F el). 23, 1932 I UNITEDsraiesi ,PATENT OFFICE HAMILTON LINDSAY, 0Fl SHAKER HEIGHTS, OHIO,ASSIGNOR TO THE LINDSAY 'WIRE WEAVING COMPANY, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO, ACORPORATION OF OHIO Bonnin Application led October 14, 1929. Serial No.399,533.

This Ainvention relates to apparatus which is used in unWindingWire'from bobbins and Winding it on to spools. Such operation occursWhen the Wire on the bobbin vis passed through anannealing furnace so asto treat the wire, and to impart desirable physical characteristics toits use in a loom. In practice, the Wire moves relatively fast throughthe furnace, and during such movement is under considerable tension. TheWire/used is a hard drawn Wire, and hence, if a break occurs, the Wireis apt to tangle and kink and thus result in loss of time to reset themachine and to eliminate the detrimental part of the Wire.

It is impractical to rotate the bobbin during the unvvinding operation,as the iveight of the bobbin and Wire creates an objectionable momentum,Vwhich prevents immediate stopping of bobbin rotation as soon as thetension is released. The practice therefore is to utilize an arm Whichis relatively light in Weight and which rotates around the aXis of thebobbin, which in turn is positioned vertically upon a support, and Whichis' held in stationary position thereon. `The Wire, which is Withdrawnfrom Vthe bobbin is threaded through the arm, and then extends throughthe furnace and onto the spool.

I have found that the use of a rotating arm in connection with astationary bobbin is not a solution to the problem, as the arm mustrotate freely and when so rotated has suiicient momentum to make severalrevolutionsbefore it is finally brought lto rest upon release of theWire tension. As a result, several turns of Wire are unvvound from ythebob'- bin, and when the machine is again started, the loose Wire is aptto become tangled.

The principal object of the present invention therefore, is to provide amechanism by means of which the Wire passing from a-bobbin isautomaticallystopped as soon Vas the tension on the Wire isreleased vsoas to prevent the unraveling-of the Wire unnecessarily on the bobbin. Inthis connection, my invention is directed toward a mechanism Which willpermit the Wire to beunvvo-und from the bobbin at a relatively high rateof speed, and which is capable of being readily attached to anddisengaged from a bobbin, and Vwhich is comparatively simple inconstruction.

One form of apparatus for accomplishing my invention is illustrated inthe drawings, r wherein Fig. 1 isa ltop plan view of a bobbin `55 havingmy invention associated therewith; Fig. 2 is a side elevation of thebobbin and invention; Figi?) is an enlarged longitudinal sectional Viewtaken on the line 3-3 in Fig. Y ,Y 1, and Fig. l is a side elevationpartly in '50 section of a bobbin equipped with a modification of'myinvention.

Y My invention is shown only in connection With a bobbin 10 which ismounted'on a rack 1l, it being understood that the Wire 12 which 65leads from the bobbin is intended to be attachedto a spool on a Windingrack, so-as to place tension on the Wire While it is being payed outfrom the bobbin. The bobbin is shown, as having the hub 13, which fitsinto "7o a socket 14 on the bobbin rack, and by means of Which the axisof the bobbin is disposed in an upright position. The upper-hub 27 ofthe bobbin may comprise a plurality of yieldr, able fingers, which arearranged in the form of a cylinder, and onto Which the inner race '15 ofa ball-bearing journal may be rigidly held. Y The outer race 16 of thejournal is attached to an arm, which extends radially and projectsbeyond the periphery of the top ange 17 of the bobbin. The outer end ofthe arm has a passageway' 18 through Which the bobbin wire is arrangedto pass, as

it is being payed out. l

I arrange the arm so as to provide slight relative motion verticallybetvveenthe outer end lof the arm-and the'bobbin flange, and

I utilize such relative motion for automatically stopping the rotationof the arm about u the bobbin, as soon as the Wire tension is released.Y

One form of the invention is shown in Figs. 2 and 3,7Wherein the outerpart 2O of the arm is pivotally mountedvat21, to an inner part, X whichcarries the outer raceway 16. The pivotal connection permits 'the outer.part lof the arm to'beY moved with reference to theinner part, merelyby the friction of the Wire through Ythe` pa'ssagevvaylS.v '-Ihus Whenten- ,m sion is placed upon the Wire, theouter .end is raised and whentension is released, the arm is allowed to drop. The movable part of thearm carries a shoe 22 which may comprise a piece of leather that isfastened to the arm, as by a securing member 23. rIhe shoe projectssufficiently below the bottom of the arm to engage the bobbin fla-ngewhen the wire tension is released, and yet to clear the flange when thewire is under tension. The frictional contact between the brake andflange is sufcient to stop the immediate rotation of the arm, whereforethe wire is prevented from further unwinding as soon as t-he tension isreleased. The brake shoe is lifted from engagement with the bobbinflange, as heretofore stated, by the frictional contact between the wireand the wall of the passageway 1S. As the arm revolves relatively fast,the momentum also tends to raise the arm about the pivot 2l and hence,it is desirable to limit the degree of such movement. A convenient wayof accomplishing this is to mount an adjusting screw 8 upon a tongue 9which may form part of a cover for the ball bearing shown in Figs. 2 andA modification of my invention is shown in Fig. 4, wherein the arm 25 iswhat may be termed a two-piece construction. rEhe relative verticalmot-ion between the arm and flange is then obtained by employing arelatively loose iit between the inner race 2G and the hub 27. Suchrelatively loose connection is suiiicient to permit the brake to clearthe flange, when the wire is under tension.

The arm which I employ in connection with my invent-ion is preferablyformed from aluminum and is therefore relatively light in weight.Accordingly, no difficulty is eX- perienced in obtaining an automaticstopping of the arm at the desired time.

I claim:

l. In combination, a bobbin having a length of flexible materialthereon, means for holding the bobbin stationary while the material isbeing payed out therefrom, a hub eX- tending upwardly from the bobbin, astationary ball race mounted on the hub, a movable ball race surroundingthe stationary race, ball bearing members disposed between the races, anarm pivotally mounted upon the outer race and having a passagewaydisposed adjacent the end thereof through which the material is adaptedto pass as it is being p eyed out from the bobbin and a friction devicemounted on the arm and adapted to engage the bobbin, the arm and devicebeing sufficiently light in weight that the normal working tension o-nthe material will move the arm about its pivot and thereby lift thefriction device from engagement with the bobbin, and said arm beingadapted to drop by gravity into engagement with the bobbin when thetension on said material is released.

2. In combination, a wire carrying spool, means for holding the spoolstationary while wire thereon is being payed out therefrom, anarticulated member disposed above the spool, anti-friction means forrevolubly supporting the member upon the spool, the wire being adaptedto slidably engage the member and to hold it out of contact with thespool during the unwinding operation, and said member being adapted todrop by gravity as soon as the normal unwinding tension on the wire isreleased, and a friction device carried by the arm and adapted to engagethe spool when the member is released.

3. In combination, a wire carrying spool, a wire guiding arm revolublymounted on the bobbin, said arm comprising an articulated member havingone portion thereof relatively fixed against vertical movement withreference to the bobbin and having another portion movable verticallywith reference to the bobbin, anti-friction members providing anoperative connection between the arm and the bobbin, a friction deviceassociated with the arm and adapted to engage the bobbin upon release ofthe normal working tension of the wire, and means on one portion of thearm for adjustably limiting vertical movevment of the other portion ofthe arm with reference to the bobbin.

Il. A tension device comprising in combination, a wire carrying spool,an articulated arm revolulfily mounted thereon, and adapted to beengaged by the wire as it is passing from the spool, said arm beingadapted to be lifted from engagement with the spool by the normaltension of the wire as it is payed out from the spool, and being adaptedto be dropped by gravity upon release of the normal wire tension and toengage the spool, whereby frictional contact between the arm and spoolwill stop rotation of the arm substantially simultaneously with therelease of the normal wire tension, and an adjustable member mounted onone portion of the arm and adapted to engage another portion thereof,for limiting vertical movement of the arm in one direction withreference to the spool.

5. A tension device, comprising in combination, a wire carrying spoolhaving a hub thereon, an arm extending radially from the spool, ballbearing means operatively connecting the arm to the hub, the outer endof the arm bein'T adapted to be engaged by the wire, as it is being paidout from the spool and being adapted to be lifted out of contact withthe spool by the normal wire tension and to be dropped by gravity uponrelease of such tension, and said arm being adapted when dropped toengage the spool and to prevent movement of the arm with reference tothe spool substantially simultaneously with the release of the tensionon the wire.

In testimony whereof, I hereunto affix my signature.

HAMILTON LINDSAY.

